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Topic: String Installation. |
Roger Shackelton
From:
MINNESOTA (deceased)
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Posted 14 Nov 2011 10:52 am |
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With so many Steel guitarists breaking strings, it seems like someone should make a video of the correct way to install guitar strings.
Certain brands of strings may be better than others, but correct installation might be the answer. ??? |
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Andy Sandoval
From:
Bakersfield, California, USA
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Posted 14 Nov 2011 11:23 am
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| Go here and click on "How To Change Strings." |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 14 Nov 2011 1:54 pm
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it's kinda hard to get it wrong. It either goes in the slot or on the peg. Avoid burrs on top of the fingers.
Not trying to be snarky, but 30 lashes with a rusty .70 for the webmaster in the above listed site. That job didn't need popups (which fly away from the user on Android, and are just annoying on PCs)
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 14 Nov 2011 2:01 pm
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While there may be some strings that break because of improper installation (whatever that is supposed to mean) I doubt it is widespread. If it is breaking at the tuning peg or nut, maybe. I have never broken a string there. Mine always break at the bridge which I believe happens more because of not changing them before they reach the point of breaking. The other reason is just pathetically crappy strings like the last set I put on a few weeks ago and will never use again.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Hans Penner
From:
Manitoba, Canada
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Posted 14 Nov 2011 3:25 pm
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Thanx Andy
A bounty of info for a beginner like me.
Hans
_________________
At long last, July 14, 2011 and I have a musical instrument I CAN play.
Stage One, Nashville 112, Hilton pedal, Black Box |
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John Palumbo
From:
Lansdale, PA.
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Posted 14 Nov 2011 3:54 pm
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| Had my Williams S10 for over a year and have not broken one string, that's one thing I sure don't miss stock piling and replacing strings |
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Bobby D. Jones
From:
West Virginia, USA
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Posted 14 Nov 2011 6:06 pm String installation
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| If the changer roll is smooth and shiny you have a lot of the problem gone. The string breaking at the tuning machine is a bear. I quick changed a string once during a gig and only put about 2 or 3 wraps on the tuner. WRONG. The next day I had retuned it and was playing when it broke, I had the bar at a place when it broke it came over my bar hand and stuck to the bone in the ring finger of my right hand. There was a sharp chromed edge on the cross hole in the tuning machine. From that time on I made extra sure I cut the strings long enough to get over on solid shaft past the hole and have not had any more strings to break at the tuner. I have had strings to break in sets over time. I bought 12 replacement .011 strings and I still have 3 or four left. A new string from the set would break and I could put one of these strings on and it would last till I changed the whole set. It seems of any string maker get a bad quality roll of wire has his reputation doomed because of their breaking. If you look at a string end that has broken with a 15X or stronger magnifier you see some stranger looking breaks because the wire has something wrong before it was ever made into a string. Good Luck and Happy Steelin. |
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Eugene Cole
From:
near Washington Grove, MD, USA
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Posted 14 Nov 2011 6:28 pm
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| Lane Gray wrote: |
it's kinda hard to get it wrong. It either goes in the slot or on the peg. Avoid burrs on top of the fingers.
Not trying to be snarky, but 30 lashes with a rusty .70 for the webmaster in the above listed site. That job didn't need popups (which fly away from the user on Android, and are just annoying on PCs) |
Knowing how many wraps to put around a tuning post and how to end up with that number of wraps only comes with practice.
Then there is the matter of limited access to the tuning posts on PSG's because they are all under a birdcage of adjacent strings (unless you have a keyless tuner system).
I find that strings typically break in a particular place and that place for me usually reveals the problem. However some strings do seem more prone to breaking than others. My high-G# string used to break on the roller nut until I quite using my stash of old LaBella strings and started using "fresher" strings.
The holes through the tuning posts can be a source of breakage if they are not radiused nicely. Having the tools, eye sight, correct glasses, skill, determination, and patience to remove a tuner (particularly if a small socket is required) and polish/radius that tuning post can be a challenge for those of us that can assemble all of these things at a given sitting.
Certainly adding several wraps around a tuning post for skinny/thin strings can do a lot to reduce breakage on those strings. However the big bass strings like my .100 or .105 low-E on which which I have to remover the string winding so that I can push the string core through the tuning post did break the core wire maybe 6% of the time because the sharp bend the tuning post applied to the thick string core was too sharp for the wire to tollerate. The bass strings also are too big to run more than a couple of wraps around the tuner post typically.
Lane I concur; that was a very user-unfriendly web site on my desktop machine too. You have to allow a few scripts to run or the site does nothing at all. Knowing which scripts to allow (on any web site) is very difficult for the novice web user even with the useful add-ons running on a their Browser. I could not even scroll to the bottom of some of the pages without the scripts autoscrolling the image back up.
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Regards
-- Eugene <sup>at</sup> FJ45.com
PixEnBar.com
Cole-Luthierie.com
FJ45.com
Sierra U14 8+5 my copedent, 1972 MSA D10 8+4, and nothing in the Bank. 8^) |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 14 Nov 2011 7:51 pm I'm sure you already knew this but...............
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I've found that when I restring my rigs......I usually bring them up to about one tone LESS than where I ultimately want it to be. I let it settle in and tune it up a little more the next day.
When possible, not on a gig, I stay off the pedals for about 24 hours specifically on that G# string.
I also make the string STRAIGHT as possible from the NUT to the tuning peg. It lessens the strain on the string my minimizing any binding or sharp bends.
It works for me........ |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 15 Nov 2011 10:29 am
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If I am restring the whole set, I kind of do what Ray does. I bring all the strings EXCEPT the 3rd to pitch and pull on them to start the stretching process. The 3rd string I only bring to F#. I let the strings set for a couple of hours, then I re-tune, bringing the 3rd string to G#. The next day I re-tune again and tune all the pedals. I never break a string bringing it up to pitch this way, but have broken many a 3rd string bringing it to pitch right out of the package.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 16 Nov 2011 6:03 pm
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I put my strings on, tune them and play. The band wouldn't like it if I waited til the next morning to tune them,lol. Just kiddin y'all. It is good to let a new set sorta settle in but I usually just play them in. I've broken one string in the last year. It is really important to keep your changer where the string sits smooth. I always buff them out good with a dremel tool and a small buffing wheel when they get to showing marks on them.
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Allan Kelly
From:
Watford, United Kingdom
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